BIRINGAN CITY: THE LAND OF THE ENCHANTED

In the Province of Samar, the Philippines, the
mention of “Biringan” evokes awe, fear, intrigue, knocking on wood and
innumerable signs of the Cross. What is Biringan? It is reportedly an undefined location somewhere between Calbayog City and Catarman, Northern Samar,
where a mythic city(ies) of indescribable grandeur is/are said to exist,
unvisited by ordinary mortals, known only by magnificent folk stories
that refuse to die despite the advent of television and the internet.
Other reports extend its area to as far south as San Jorge, Samar.

Biringan’s “now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t” quality indicates it is not
of the usual land and water terrain in which we live in. It seems to
exist in a different dimension, which explains why its boundaries can
overlap with known towns and cities of Samar island. On moonless nights,
seafarers aplenty have reported seeing a dazzling city of light. In a
few minutes, though, the manifestation is no longer visible. Obviously,
Biringan is not likely to be shown on any map or atlas. But specialized
(infrared, ultraviolet, etc.) satellite mapping photography have
reportedly turned up a shining area in the reported general location of
Biringan.

They say Biringan is the legendary home of the
encantos (enchanted ones) and half-encanto, half-human progeny. The
encantos are most likely elementals, as old as the mountains and rivers
in the area. They are apparently shapechangers because they have been
reported to appear in whatever form they wish, human or not. But in
human form, their distinguishing characteristic is the lack of the
philtrum, the indentation below the nose and above the upper lip.

Portals to and from an ethereal city. There are places in the island of Samar that have been described thus.

There’s one story of a bus plying the night route from Catbalogan City
to Tacloban City. Somewhere halfway, when the bus had been emptied of
its passengers, the driver and conductor stopped to pick up two young
lady passengers. Their stated destination was quite off the main route
but the driver consented because the two had offered triple the usual
fare. When the two mysterious passengers had alighted, and the driver
turned the bus around to get back on the highway. But, to his utter
bewilderment, he could no longer distinguish the dirt road they had
taken just moments ago. Conceding that they were lost, they decided to
spend the night at that very spot. At dawn the next day, they were
confounded when they found themselves and the bus at a desolate mountain
top. A large tow truck had to be sent through rough mountain trails
just to bring the bus back to civilization.

Then there’s the
story of a bus that somehow lost its way and the driver stopped to pass
the night at some sort of depot. When he and his passengers woke up the
next morning they were in themiddle of a clump or bamboos with no roads
anywhere around them that would have brought them where they were.

Perhaps the most classic example of these gateways involved two
motorcycle riders riding tandem on one bike. They were traveling the
highway at night from (Western) Samar to Eastern Samar. It was around
nine o-clock in the evening and they were negotiating the foggy, winding
passes halfway to Borongan, Eastern Samar. The night air was chilly and
only their motorcycle headlights split the dark ahead. The deafening
silence was only punctuated by the occasional chirping of insects.

Suddenly, as they rounded a sharp curve, they were suddenly engulfed in
a bedlam of sound! It was as if they had entered a very busy freeway,
invisible to them but its sound assaulted their ears. Shrill air horns
blared from every direction and sudden gusts of wind rocked their
motorcycle as if huge trailer trucks were passing them by on all sides.
The driver tried his very best to keep the motorcycle handlebar steady.

It was only after they had round the next curve that the noise suddenly
died down and the night air was deathly still once more. Still, these
two motorcycle riders and scores of other highways travelers will never
forget their encounters with Biringan’s portals.

Biringan : Supernatural Abductions

Supernatural abductions. Quite seemingly out of this world, but
reportedly true. Some of the most persistent incidents related to the
Biringan phenomenon involve the “relocation” of humans from the mortal
world to Biringan.

What happens is, whenever a Biringan
inhabitant takes fancy on a mortal (usually a fair maiden or attractive
lad), he or she is taken away from the mortal world by was of bugkot (a
Visayan vernacular term). The transition usually takes the form of
sudden “death” (i.e., accidents, fatal illness lasting a few hours at
most, sudden disappearance from any physical location). In reality, the
mortal never really dies but his/her consciousness or spirit is taken by
the Biringan entity.

The anguished kin of the victim are left
with the “lifeless body” where in fact it is not the actual cadaver but a
log or similar physical object configured to look and feel like a real
lifeless human body. All the while, the victim now resides in Biringan
as the wife, husband, or servant of the supernatural being which took
her away.

I once knew of a very beautiful lady in Catbalogan
City in the province of Samar in the Philippines who was separated from
her husband and had three good-looking kids. One day, in the
mid-Seventies, the car she was driving suddenly turned turtle on the
highway near San Jorge, Samar causing her sudden untimely “demise”. The
bereaved family held a decent wake for her and had her body properly
buried. Until the present, however, there are persistent recurring
reports of this lady being seen in the reported location of Biringan
City and she is reportedly now queen of the encantos who live there.

No wonder a portion of the population of the city are half-encantos,
half-human. It is these progeny who are reportedly fond of frequenting
places where mortals abound for relaxation and entertainment (i.e.
parks, beaches, nightspots). This is a direct result of all the cases of
supernatural abductions.

Biringan : Heavy Equipment for an Invisible City

Heavy equipment for an invisible city? Uncanny but true. In the
Sixties, Tacloban City in the province of Leyte, the Philippines was the
commercial hub of the Eastern Visayas region. It was the natural port
of call of passenger and cargo ships plying the Visayas-Manila route.
Who could ever imagine that manifestations of Biringan’s existence would
take physical form?

One particular incident which is still
word-of-mouth to this day involved the arrival of a large lot of
first-class heavy equipment from the United States. The shipment
consisted of bulldozers, graders, payloaders and hauler trucks. Post
officials were astounded when they examined the freight documents and
discovered the entire consignment listed the destination as Biringan
City. Since the fabled city’s reputation had spread far and wide in the
Eastern Visayas region, people were in a tumult of speculation as to who
will claim the equipment.

Following prescribed port rules, the
heavy equipment were unloaded and neatly parked in the concrete
confines of the Tacloban port under heavy guard. Months passed and still
no one came to claim the shipment. The elements were taking their toll
on the equipment. Conflicting reports have it that the entire lot was
either sent back to the shipper or hauled to the junkyard. Was this a
matter of mistaken port of delivery of heavy equipment for an invisible
city?

Biringan : The Japanese Venture Into Biringan Territory

In the late Eighties through the Nineties, the Japanese ventured into
Biringan territory. They conducted rural development work focused on the
town of San Jorge, Western Samar. The implementing agency was the
Japanese International cooperation Agency (JICA). The entire Samareño
population was perplexed as to why the Japanese would concentrate on San
Jorge when there were a lot more towns in the province which needed the
development work more. To implement the project, the Japanese brought
in tons of equipment (vehicles and machinery) and Japanese engineers and
field personnel descended on San Jorge in full force.

One
story involved a team of Japanese who went into the forest accompanied
by a Filipino guide. Inexplicably, the guide lost track of the terrain.
The Japanese promptly whipped out a very detailed satellite-generated
map of the area and the team immediately found its bearings again. A
related report had it that infrared, ultraviolet, or similar satellite
pictures of the area kept registering a shimmering effect right on the
location where the JICA was concentrated. This led to further reports
that an enormous deposit of uranium is embedded deep in the bowels of
the earth beneath that particular area. Others speculate that a mother
lode of gold has been detected in the area. The thickest deposits are
reportedly under the San Jorge area with the ends tapering as far a San
Juanico Strait to the South and the San Bernardino Strait to the North.

Could there be a connection to the reported location of Biringan in the
area? In Philippine folklore, elementals supposedly guard vast
treasures hidden deep in the forests or deep underground.

Nevertheless, the Japanese left the area without any tangible results of
their “rural development” work. That ended the Japanese Venture Into
Biringan Territory.

Biringan : Conclusion

What
really is Biringan? Is it a city or kingdom existing in a parallel
dimension with ours? Do these two dimensions interpenetrate at times,
causing the meeting of inhabitants from ours with encantos? Does this
explain the ethereal now-you-see-it, now-you don’t quality of Biringan
and its denizens?

To this day, Biringan remains a mysterious
part of Philippine folklore. In addition, everyday stories of encounters
with Biringan’s residents continue to be told. If these had simply been
figments of the imagination, these stories would have died down a long
time ago, what with the advent of 100+ channels cable television and the
Internet. Still, fresh stories continue to crop up.

Stories
such as spirit possession by Biringan’s encantos over ten school
children just because their school Principal unwittingly made a bonfire
next to the large balete tree in their school yard. How was the poor
teacher to know that the huge tree looming large near the old school
building was the abode of a Biringanon? And that she had unknowingly
injured the youngest child of the invisible occupants of the tree abode?

Even modern-day kids in the Philippines, well-versed on the Japanese
animé sagas of the new century, still believe in the existence of the
legendary kingdom of Biringan. This is an undeniable fact. Despite all
the terror attacks, all the coup rumors, the hunger, the droughts, the
floods, and everything, only one thing remains unshaken by it all …
Biringan.